CAMPBELL PRESS

The large press in the middle of the building is the centerpiece of this museum. This is Campbell Country Press from around 1890-1899 and was the press used to print the Banks County Journal from 1900-1969.

This cylinder press and other similar models were the workhorses of small weekly newspapers after 1900. It could print two pages at a time at a rate of about 700 per hour. Sheets of paper were hand fed into the top and captured by the large cylinder. The cylinder pulled the paper around and down onto the pages and then fed the printed sheet out the back of the press.

This press was very typical of small weekly newspapers in this era, but only a few remain in operation today. The only other Campbell Country Press like this one still in operation that we know of is in California. Many of these old presses were donated as scarp metal in WWII as newer presses came to the market.

This building was constructed for the support of this press in 1900. The press could be operated by hand by putting a handle on the small flywheel, or it could be power operated as it is today via the central belt system.

This press was again made operational in 2012 after extensive cleaning and renovation.